"Why?" is about images, artists and backstories. It's about artists who need to be on your radar.

I'm betting many of you don't know Cindy Harter Sims. She's not typically on the speaking circuit, but she's always at the key conventions. Besides having become an outstanding artist, what I enjoy most about Cindy is her focus on building her skill set. She never slows down!

Cindy was the music teacher in a Georgia school for many years and decided she wanted to be a professional photographer. She took classes, practiced for endless hours, and then in 2011, after five years of saving and planning, opened her studio. In 2013 I shared a guest post from Cindy along with a podcast later that year about her journey. She's never strayed from building her skill set and in the process has worked with some of the finest artists and educators in our industry. Cindy is all about quality - in her images, business, relationships with clients, the community and her friends.

In regards to the portrait above, in an IM she wrote to me:

"I get pretty emotionally attached to my work. This print is my whole heart. I have been feeling the urge to make a portrait of my father for a while...I wanted to recreate that scene as if to live it once more."

"I get pretty emotionally attached to my work. This print is my whole heart. I have been feeling the urge to make a portrait of my father for a while...I wanted to recreate that scene as if to live it once more."

A fantastic way to explain how personal and emotional art can be for the artist. Great photograph!

great story...I have been inspired to photograph my Dad for the past several months at his chair where he prays and reads everyday too...Confirmation is great. I will make this happen after shutterfest...

Leave a Reply.

"Why?"

Check out"Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog.It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound bite. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. We're coming up on 100 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.

Authors

Skip Cohen is President of SCU, founder of Marketing Essentials International and past president of Rangefinder Publishing and WPPI. He's been an active participant in the photographic industry since joining Hasselblad USA in 1987 as president. He has co-authored six books on photography and actively supports dozens of projects each year involving photographic education.

Scott Bourne

Scott Bourne was the first Dean of Marketing at SCU. He helped to establish this blog as a resource for aspiring and working professional photographers. He's an educator, artist, author and from time to time you'll see his name on guest posts that are always relevant to photography and marketing!